For help installing IPA-compatible fonts, seeHelp:Special characters#IPA symbols.

For a basic introduction to using IPA written for English readers, seeHelp:IPA/Introduction.

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Here is a basic key to the symbols of theInternational Phonetic Alphabet. For the smaller set of symbols that is sufficient for English, seeHelp:IPA/English. Several rare IPA symbols are not included; these are found in themain IPA article or on theextensive IPA chart. For the Manual of Style guideline for pronunciation, seeWikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation.

For each IPA symbol, an English example is given where possible; here "RP" stands forReceived Pronunciation. The foreign languages that are used to illustrate additional sounds are primarily the ones most likely to be familiar to English speakers,French,Standard German, andSpanish. For symbols not covered by those, recourse is taken to the populous languagesStandard Chinese,Hindustani,Arabic, andRussian. For sounds still not covered, other smaller but better analyzed languages are used, for exampleSwahili andZulu (for theBantu branch) orTurkish (forTurkic branch) for their respective related languages.

The left-hand column displays the symbols like this:Template:IPAblink. Click on "listen" to hear the sound; click on the symbol itself for a dedicated article with a more complete description and examples from multiple languages. Consonant sounds are spoken once followed by a vowel and once between vowels.

Template:Compact ToC

The symbols are arranged by similarity to letters of theLatin alphabet. Symbols which do not resemble any Latin letter are placed at the end.

Symbol	Examples	Description
^ top A
Template:IPAblink	GermanMann, Frenchgare	For many English speakers, the first part of theow sound incow. Found in some dialects of English incat orfather.
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 他tā, American Englishfather, Spanishcasa, Frenchpatte
Template:IPAblink	RPcut, GermanKaiserslautern	(In transcriptions of English,[ɐ] is usually writtenTemplate:Angbr IPA.)
Template:IPAblink	RPfather, Frenchpâte, Dutchbad
Template:IPAblink	FrenchCaen,sans,temps	Nasalized[ɑ].
Template:IPAblink	RPcot	Like[ɑ], but with the lips slightly rounded.
Template:IPAblink	American Englishcut	Like[ɔ], but without the lips being rounded. (WhenTemplate:Angbr IPA is used for English, it may really be[ɐ] or[ɜ].)
Template:IPAblink	RPcat
^ top B
Template:IPAblink	Englishbabble
Template:IPAblink	Swahilibwana	Like a[b] said with a gulp. Seeimplosive consonants.
Template:IPAblink	SpanishlaBamba, Kinyarwandaabana "children", Korean 무궁화 [muɡuŋβwa̠]mugunghwa	Like[b], but with the lips not quite closed.
Template:IPAblink	Niassimbi [siʙi] "lower jaw"	Sputtering.
^ top C
Template:IPAblink	Turkishkebap "kebab", Czech stín "shadow", Greekκαι "and"	Between Englishtune (RP) andcute. Sometimes used instead for[tʃ] in languages like Hindi.
Template:IPAblink	GermanIch	More of a y-coloration (more palatal) than[x]. Some English speakers have a similar sound inhuge. To produce this sound, try whispering loudly the word "ye" as in "Hear ye!".
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 西安Xi'an, Polishściana	More y-like than[ʃ]; something like Englishshe.
Template:IPAblink	see underO
^ top D
Template:IPAblink	Englishdad
Template:IPAblink	SwahiliDodoma	Like[d] said with a gulp.
Template:IPAblink	American Englishharder	Like[d] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink	Englishthe, bathe
Template:IPAblink	Englishadds, Italianzero
Template:IPAblink	Englishjudge
Template:IPAblink	Polishniedźwiedź "bear"	Like[dʒ], but with more of a y-sound.
Template:IPAblink	Polishdżem "jam"	Like[dʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top E
Template:IPAblink	Spanishfe; Frenchclé, GermanKlee	Similar to Englishhey, before the y sets in.
Template:IPAblink	Australian Englishbird
Template:IPAblink	Englishabove, Hindi ठग[ʈʰəɡ](thug) "thief"	(Only occurs in English when not stressed.)
Template:IPAblink	American Englishrunner
Template:IPAblink	Englishbet
Template:IPAblink	FrenchSaint-Étienne,vin,main	Nasalized[ɛ].
Template:IPAblink	RPbird (long)
Template:IPAblink	American Englishbird
^ top F
Template:IPAblink	Englishfun
Template:IPAblink	see underJ
Template:IPAblink	see underJ
^ top G
Template:IPAblink	Englishgag	(Should look like. No different from a Latin "g")
Template:IPAblink	SwahiliUganda	Like[ɡ] said with a gulp.
Template:IPAblink		Like[ɡ], but further back, in the throat. Found inPersian and some Arabic dialects for/q/, as inMuammar Gaddafi.
Template:IPAblink	see underZ	Englishbeige.
^ top H
Template:IPAblink	American Englishhouse
Template:IPAblink	Englishahead, when said quickly.
Template:IPAblink		The extra puff of air in Englishtop[tʰɒp] compared tostop [stɒp], or to French or Spanish[t].
Template:IPAblink	ArabicTemplate:Wikt-langMuhammad	Far down in the throat, like[h], but stronger.
Template:IPAblink	see underY
Template:IPAblink	see underL
^ top I
Template:IPAblink	Englishsea, Frenchville, SpanishValladolid
Template:IPAblink	Englishsit
Template:IPAblink	Russian ты "you"	Often used for unstressed Englishroses.
^ top J
Template:IPAblink	Englishyes, hallelujah, GermanJunge
Template:IPAblink	In RussianЛенин[ˈlʲenʲɪn]	Indicates a sound is more y-like.
Template:IPAblink	Spanishcayo (some dialects)	Like[j], but stronger.
Template:IPAblink	Turkishgör "see", Czechdíra "hole"	Between Englishdew (RP) andargue. Sometimes used instead for[dʒ] in languages like Hindi.
Template:IPAblink	Swahilijambo	Like[ɟ] said with a gulp.
^ top K
Template:IPAblink	Englishkick, skip
^ top L
Template:IPAblink	Englishleaf
Template:IPAblink	Englishwool Russian малый[ˈmɑɫɨj] "small"	"Dark" el.
Template:IPAblink	Welshllwyd[ɬʊɪd] "grey" Zuluhlala[ɬaːla] "sit"	By touching roof of mouth with tongue and giving a quick breath out. Found inWelsh placenames likeLlangollen andLlanelli andNelson Mandela's Xhosa nameRolihlahla.
Template:IPAblink		Like[l] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink		A flapped[l], like[l] and[ɾ] said together.
Template:IPAblink	Zuludla "eat"	Rather like[l] and[ʒ], or[l] and[ð], said together.
Template:IPAblink
^ top M
Template:IPAblink	Englishmime
Template:IPAblink	Englishsymphony	Like[m], but lips touch teeth as they do in[f].
Template:IPAblink	see underW
Template:IPAblink	see underW
^ top N
Template:IPAblink	Englishnun
Template:IPAblink	Englishsing, Māoringa
Template:IPAblink	SpanishPeña, Frenchchampagne	Rather like Englishcanyon (/nj/ said quickly).
Template:IPAblink	Hindi वरुण[ʋəruɳ]Varuna	Like[n] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink	Castilian SpanishDon Juan[doɴˈχwan]	Like[ŋ], but further back, in the throat.
^ top O
Template:IPAblink	Spanishno, Frencheau, GermanBoden	Somewhat reminiscent of American Englishno.
Template:IPAblink	GermanOldenburg, FrenchGaronne
Template:IPAblink	FrenchLyon,son	Nasalized[ɔ].
Template:IPAblink	Frenchfeu,bœufs, GermanGoethe	Like[e], but with the lips rounded like[o].
Template:IPAblink	Dutchhut, Frenchje, Swedishdum	Halfway between[o] and[ø]. Similar to[ʊ] but with the tongue slightly more down and front. The Dutch vowel is often transcribed withTemplate:Angbr IPA orTemplate:Angbr IPA, whereas the French vowel is typically transcribed withTemplate:Angbr IPA.
Template:IPAblink	Frenchbœuf,seul, GermanGöttingen	Like[ɛ], but with the lips rounded like[ɔ].
Template:IPAblink	Frenchbrun,parfum	Nasalized[œ].
Template:IPAblink
Template:IPAblink	see underOthers
Template:IPAblink	see underOthers
^ top P
Template:IPAblink	Englishpip
^ top Q
Template:IPAblink	ArabicTemplate:Wikt-langQur’ān	Like[k], but further back, in the throat.
^ top R
Template:IPAblink	Spanishperro, Scotsborrow	"Rolled R". (Often used for other rhotics, such as English[ɹ], when there's no ambiguity.)
Template:IPAblink	Spanishpero, Tagalogdaliri, Malaykabar, American Englishkitty/kiddie	"Flapped R".
Template:IPAblink	Dutchrood and Germanrot (some speakers)	A trill in the back of the throat. Found for /r/ in some conservative registers of French.
Template:IPAblink	Hindi साड़ी[sɑːɽiː] "sari"	Like flapped[ɾ], but with the tongue curled back.
Template:IPAblink	RPborrow
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 人民日报RénmínRìbào "People's Daily", American Englishborrow, butter	Like[ɹ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back, as pronounced by many English speakers.
Template:IPAblink	FrenchParis, GermanRiemann (some dialects)	Said back in the throat, but not trilled.
^ top S
Template:IPAblink	Englishsass
Template:IPAblink	Englishshoe
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 少林(Shàolín), Russian Пушкин(Pushkin)	Acoustically similar to[ʃ], but with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top T
Template:IPAblink	Englishtot, stop
Template:IPAblink	Hindi ठग[ʈʰəɡ](thug) "thief"	Like[t], but with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink	Englishcats, Russianцарьtsar
Template:IPAblink	Englishchurch
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 北京 Běijīng (listen (help·info) ), Polishciebie "you"	Like[tʃ], but with more of a y-sound.
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 真正zhēnzhèng, Polishczas	Like[tʃ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
^ top U
Template:IPAblink	American Englishfood, Frenchvous "you", GermanSchumacher
Template:IPAblink	Englishfoot, GermanBundesrepublik
Template:IPAblink	Australian Englishfood (long)	Like[ɨ], but with the lips rounded as for[u].
Template:IPAblink	see underY
Template:IPAblink	see underW
^ top V
Template:IPAblink	Englishverve
Template:IPAblink	Hindi वरुण[ʋəruɳə] "Varuna"	Between[v] and[w]. Used by some Germans and Russians forv/w, and by some speakers of British English forr.
Template:IPAblink	see underY
Template:IPAblink	see underY
Template:IPAblink	see underA
^ top W
Template:IPAblink	Englishwow
Template:IPAblink		Indicates a sound has lip rounding, as in Englishrain
Template:IPAblink	what (some dialects)	like[h] and[w] said together
Template:IPAblink	Turkishkayık "caïque",Scottish Gaelicgaol	Like[u], but with the lips flat; something like[ʊ].
Template:IPAblink	Spanishagua	Like [w], but with the lips flat.
^ top X
Template:IPAblink	Scottish Englishloch, GermanBach, Russianхороший[xɐˈroʂɨj] "good", Spanishjoven	between[k] and[h]
Template:IPAblink	northern Standard DutchScheveningen, Castilian SpanishDonJuan[doɴˈχwan]	Like[x], but further back, in the throat. Some German and Arabic speakers have[χ] for[x].
^ top Y
Template:IPAblink	Frenchrue, GermanBülow	Like[i], but with the lips rounded as for[u].
Template:IPAblink	GermanDüsseldorf	Like[ɪ], but with the lips rounded as for[ʊ].
Template:IPAblink	ArabicTemplate:Wikt-langLua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:string utilities' not found. and Swahilighali "expensive", Spanishsuegro	Sounds rather like French[ʁ] or between[ɡ] and[h].
Template:IPAblink	Mandarin 河南Hénán,Scottish Gaelictaigh	Like[o] but without the lips rounded, something like a cross of[ʊ] and[ʌ].
Template:IPAblink	Italiantagliatelle	Like[l], but more y-like. Rather like Englishvolume.
Template:IPAblink	Frenchlui	Like[j] and[w] said together.
^ top Z
Template:IPAblink	Englishzoo
Template:IPAblink	Englishvision, Frenchjournal
Template:IPAblink	old-styled Russian позже[ˈpoʑːe] "later", Polishźle	More y-like than[ʒ], something likebeigey.
Template:IPAblink	Russianжир "fat"	Like[ʒ] with the tongue curled or pulled back.
Template:IPAblink	see underL
^ top Others
Template:IPAblink	Englishthigh, bath
Template:IPAblink	Japanese 富士[ɸɯdʑi]Fuji, Māori[ˌɸaːɾeːˈnuiː]wharenui	Like[p], but with the lips not quite touching
Template:IPAblink	Englishuh-oh, Hawai‘i, Germandie Angst	The 'glottal stop', a catch in the breath. For some people, found inbutton[ˈbʌʔn̩], or between vowels across words:Deus ex machina[ˌdeɪəsˌʔɛksˈmɑːkɪnə]; in some nonstandard dialects, ina apple[əˈʔæpl̩].
Template:IPAblink	ArabicTemplate:Wikt-langLua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:string utilities' not found. "Arabic"	A light sound deep in the throat.
Template:IPAblink	Englishtsk-tsk! ortut-tut!, Zuluicici "earring"	(The English click used for disapproval.) Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including[kǀ], [ɡǀ], [ŋǀ]. The Zimbabwean MPNcube has this click in his name, as didCetshwayo.
Template:IPAblink	Englishtchick! tchick!, Zuluixoxo "frog"	(The English click used to urge on a horse.) Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including[kǁ], [ɡǁ], [ŋǁ]. Found in the name of theXhosa.
Template:IPAblink	Zuluiqaqa "polecat"	(The English click used to imitate the trotting of a horse.) A hollow popping sound, like a cork pulled from a bottle. Several distinct sounds, written as digraphs, including[kǃ], [ɡǃ], [ŋǃ].
Template:IPAblink	ǂ’Amkoeʘoa "two"	Like a kissing sound.
Template:IPAblink	Khoekhoeǂgā-amǃnâ [ǂàʔám̀ᵑǃã̀] "to put in the mouth"	Like an imitation of a chewing sound.

Several marks can be added above, below, before or after letters. These are here shown on a carrier letter such as the vowela. A more complete list is given atInternational Phonetic Alphabet § Diacritics and prosodic notation.

Two types of brackets are commonly used to enclose transcriptions in the IPA:

• /Slashes/ indicate sounds that are distinguished as the basic units of words in a language by native speakers; these are calledphonemes. Changing the symbols between these slashes would either change the identity of the word or produce nonsense. For example, since there is no meaningful difference to a native speaker between the two sounds written with the letter L in the wordlulls, they are considered the same phoneme, and so, using slashes, they are given the same symbol in IPA:/ˈlʌlz/. Similarly, Spanishla bamba is transcribed phonemically with two instances of the sameb sound,/la ˈbamba/, despite the fact that they sound different to a speaker of English. Thus a reader who is not familiar with the language in question might not know how to interpret these transcriptions more narrowly.
• [Square brackets] indicate the narrower or more detailedphonetic qualities of a pronunciation, not taking into account the norms of the language to which it belongs; therefore, such transcriptions do not regard whether subtly different sounds in the pronunciation are actually noticeable or distinguishable to a native speaker of the language. Within square brackets is what a foreigner who does not know the structure of a language might hear as discrete units of sound. For instance, the English wordlulls may be pronounced in a particular dialect more specifically as[ˈlɐɫz], with different letter L sounds at the beginning and end. This may be obvious to speakers of languages that differentiate between the sounds[l] and[ɫ]. Likewise, Spanishla bamba (pronounced without a pause) has two different b-sounds to the ears of foreigners or linguists—[la ˈβamba]—though a native Spanish speaker might not be able to hear it. Omitting or adding such detail does not make a difference to the identity of the word, but helps to give a more precise pronunciation.

A third kind of bracket is occasionally seen:

• Either //double slashes// or |pipes| (or occasionally other conventions) show that the enclosed sounds are theoretical constructs that are not actually heard. (This is part ofmorphophonology.) For instance, most phonologists argue that the-s at the ends of verbs, which surfaces as either/s/ intalks/tɔːks/ or as/z/ inlulls/lʌlz/, has a single underlying form. If they decide this form is ans, they would write it //s// (or |s|) to claim that phonemic/tɔːks/ and/lʌlz/ are essentially//tɔːks// and//lʌls// underneath. If they were to decide it was essentially the latter, //z//, they would transcribe these words//tɔːkz// and//lʌlz//.

Lastly,

• Template:Angbr are used to set offorthography, as well astransliteration from non-Latin scripts. ThusTemplate:Angbr,Template:Angbr, the letterTemplate:Angbr. Angle brackets are not supported by all fonts, so a template {{angle bracket}} (shortcut {{angbr}}) is used to ensure maximal compatibility. (Comment there if you're having problems.)

IPAtypeface support is increasing, and is now included in several typefaces such as theTimes New Roman versions that come with various recent computeroperating systems.Diacritics are not always properly rendered, however. IPA typefaces that are freely available online includeGentium, several from theSIL (such asCharis SIL, andDoulos SIL),Dehuti,DejaVu Sans, andTITUS Cyberbit, which are allfreely available; as well as commercial typefaces such as Brill, available fromBrill Publishers, andLucida Sans Unicode andArial Unicode MS, shipping with variousMicrosoft products. These all include several ranges of characters in addition to the IPA. ModernWeb browsers generally do not need any configuration to display these symbols, provided that a typeface capable of doing so is available to the operating system.

Particularly, the following symbols may be shown improperly depending on your font:

Online IPA keyboard utilities are available and they cover a range of IPA symbols and diacritics:

• IPA i-charts (2018)
• IPA character picker
• TypeIt.org
• IPA Chart Keyboard

ForiOS there are free IPA keyboard layouts, e.g.IPA Phonetic Keyboard.

• Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet
• IPA charts for diphthongs in various languages
• Wikipedia:Manual of Style (pronunciation)#Entering IPA characters

• Official interactive IPA chart with letter descriptions, audio, and input assistTemplate:Spoken
• IPA pronunciation chart with audioTemplate:Spoken
• MRI videos of production of the sounds of the IPA chartsTemplate:Spoken
• Ultrasound and MRI videos of production of the sounds of the IPA chartsTemplate:Spoken
• Getting JAWS 6.1 to recognize "exotic" Unicode symbols – for help on getting thescreen readerJAWS to read IPA symbols
• IPA Reader – web-based IPA synthesizer usingAmazon Polly

Template:IPA keysTemplate:IPA navigation

• International Phonetic Alphabet help

• Pages with script errors